Star Trek: Enterprise — 4x01 — Storm Front, Part I
Synopsis
Archer and the NX-01 find themselves in Earth's past, with events of World War II altered by the Temporal Cold War.
Remarkable scenes
- German Soldier: "Americans are good at making movies. They're not so good at fighting."
- Trip: "I was just all set to get home... I wasn't expecting to be in the middle of another... situation." Preach on, brother!
- Daniels showing up in Enterprise's sickbay.
- Alicia: "Patch on your ship says Enterprise! You musta made it off before it sank!"
- The sight of a conquered White House with Nazi flags draped over it.
- Silik's appearance.
- Trip's fight with Silik.
- Archer confronting the alien Nazi.
- Trip and Reed destroying a shuttlepod.
- Archer and Alicia beaming to Enterprise.
Review
Well I must say that I was more impressed with this episode than I originally thought I would be. Maybe it's the new showrunner, Manny Coto, making the best of the dismal cliffhanger Rick Berman and Brannon Braga left him. I get the feeling Coto wants to wrap up the whole Temporal Cold War thing right here and do it with style. Yes, he's being forced to use alien Nazis, and yes the Xindi conflict is still left with loose ends, but at least this episode is presented in a convincing and mostly intelligent fashion. Ever since TOS: The City On The Edge of Forever, I've been fascinated with the idea of time travel being used to alter Earth's history, making WWII end a different way. We get to see the effects of such an alteration first hand with the Nazis having conquered Europe, Africa, and large portions of North America. They were able to do this thanks to help from a future alien species, a faction in the Temporal Cold War. Their motives remain a mystery, other than the obvious notion that a totalitarian government dominating Earth would drastically reshape future politics.